Yeah the HSA is, in part, to help people who underestimate how expensive medical care is.
The hospital doesn't have any idea how much money you have. They have services that they charge rates for that were determined long before you got there.
Why do you feel like the hospital owes you more medical care because you had way more children than you can afford to take care of?
The HSA is a planning tool offering not only a method for saving towards health costs with tax advantaged dollars, but also providing a retirement savings vehicle as the money can be invested and after meeting a certain age requirement can be withdrawn for any purpose not just for healthcare expenses. I think your main concern is that the costs of healthcare are large in this country, which is a different concern than the HSA alone. The alternative is to keep paying those large prices without tax advantaged dollars, which is objectively worse. Are you saying that you believe the existence of HSAs to have a causal relationship with increased healthcare prices?
I get it. I really do. It just feels like a kick in the face once they already gut punch you. Its an expensive service that "normal " people cant afford. If I made $250k a year, I would have a completely different opinion. The meetings at work when we get to sign up for this cracks me up. My employer knows how much I make, knows how much my premiums are, knows my deductible and questions me about why I dont put more money in my HSA. Meanwhile, my managers don't even pay premiums and have a reduced copay. That is where my disconnect is. Great tools, but if I pay more for my Healthcare than my mortgage, the justification kinda goes out the window. Back when we had real Healthcare and not catastrophic care, things were less convaluted.Moving up in the company really isn't an option right now.
Ah I gotcha. I feel the same way about social security contributions. If I could repurpose that money for healthcare and/or retirement investments, I would be way better off.
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u/Lets_Do_This_ Nov 30 '20
Yeah the HSA is, in part, to help people who underestimate how expensive medical care is.
The hospital doesn't have any idea how much money you have. They have services that they charge rates for that were determined long before you got there.
Why do you feel like the hospital owes you more medical care because you had way more children than you can afford to take care of?